Finally, Garba Shehu Reveals Why Buhari Took 6 Months To Appoint Ministers

Five years after Muhammadu Buhari assumed office as Nigeria’s president, one of his media aides, Garba Shehu, has revealed the real reason behind the president’s delay in forming his first cabinet.

Buhari had taken about 6 months after his inauguration as president on May 2019, 2015, to name his ministers, an action analysts said discouraged investors from investing in the country at the time.

Prior to his inauguration, the president had promised to look for competent, dedicated and experienced people to fill his cabinet.

The presidency, at different times, had also said that the president’s delay in appointing ministers was because he wanted to eliminate prior corruption before naming his cabinet.

But in an opinion piece he wrote to mark Buhari’s 78th birthday on Wednesday, Shehu explained that a series of meetings the president held with Permanent Secretaries and heads of government agencies were responsible for the delayed cabinet.

According to him, Buhari wanted to have “an official view of things” because his predecessor, former President Goodluck Jonathan, did not let him interact with top government officials before handing over to him.

Shehu wrote, “Upon his assumption of office in May, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari sat at long meetings with teams led by Permanent Secretaries and heads of the various government agencies and departments. Those meetings took a few months to go round and were in effect, responsible for the delay in the appointment of ministers into his first cabinet.

“Before his inauguration, President elect Muhammadu Buhari wasn’t allowed to meet government officials, just as we witnessed in America recently, until the incumbent President agreed that the incoming President Joe Biden be met and briefed.

“President-elect Buhari therefore didn’t have the benefit of an official view of things because the administration he succeeded had decided that “there will not be two governments in place in the country; wait for your time”.

“So, the President-elect bided his time until he took the office before getting a real glimpse of what was the nature of the treasury he was inheriting; the state of security; projects going on and the disposition of the public service to implement his ambitious plans,” he said.